Typewriter with multiple ribbons



Feb. 6, 1968 c. H. BERILL TYPEWRITBR WITH MULTIPLE RIBBONS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 4, 19 65 ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 6, 1968 I c. H. BERILL 3,367,470

TYPEWRITER WITH MULTIPLE RIBBONS Fild Jan. 4, 1965 v 4 Sheets-Sheet. 2

3121:1111: 2:1:"121111'JJFL'.

Y INVENTOR v BY M m mmkm ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 6,1968

Filed Jan. 4, l9 65 I C. H. BERILL TYPEWRITER WITH MULTIPLE RIBBONS FIG. 8.

FIG. IO.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. ll.

INVENTQR MRQ,M

W ATTORNEYS? .Feb. 6, 1968 C. H. BERILL TYPEWRITER WITH MULTIPLE RIBBONS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 4, 1965 INVENTOR W \x Q my ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 3,367,470 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 free 3,367,470 TYPEWRITER WITH MULTIPLE RIBBONS Carroll H. Berill, 230 E. 51st St, New York, N.Y. 10022 Filed Jan. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 423,146 11 Claims. (Cl. 197-153) This invention relates to typewriters that have multiple ribbons for making a plurality of copies without the use of carbon paper. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved typewriter of the character indicated and which is of simpler construction, less expensive and more reliable than previous multiple-ribbon typewriters.

Another object is to provide improved apparatus for locking the ribbons under tension so that they will hold firmly in position while new paper is being inserted into the typewriter with a different sheet behind each of the different ribbons. The locking and tensioning of the ribbons is effected automatically in response to routine carriage operation which occurs at the time of inserting new paper into the typewriter.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multipleribbon typewriter for ribbons that are used only once, with no necessity for rewinding, and with a single feed mechanism for feeding ribbons from a plurality of spools at a controlled rate which advances the ribbon to the extent necessary always to have a useful portion of ribbon at the location where the keys strike.

One feature of the invention is the provision of improved guides for the multiple ribbons, and particularly the provision of more convenient means for separating the ribbons when paper is to be inserted, and for bringing successive guides back into working position.

Other features relate to the mounting of the invention on conventional typewriters with adjustment for differences in the proportions of the typewriter frames, and to friction clutch means for actuating certain rotating parts of the apparatus.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic front view of a typewriter to which this invention is applied;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the typewriter shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic, sectional view through the means for connecting the invention to the typewriter shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a rear view, partly broken away, of the typewriter shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a greatly enlarged view taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view on the line 77 of FIG- URE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a greatly enlarged sectional view on the line 88 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is an exploded view of a portion of the structure shown in section in FIGURE 8;

FIGURES 10 and 11 are greatly enlarged sectional views taken on the lines 1010 and 1111, respectively, of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view of one ribbon holder of FIGURE 11;

FIGURE 13 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the ribbon guide mechanism, the section being taken on the line 13-13 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 14 is a view of the other side of the release mechanism of FIGURE 13 with the parts in different positions;

FIGURE 15 is an enlarged View of a portion of the operating mechanism shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 16 is a view of some of the mechanism of FIGURE 15 with the parts in different positions; and

FIGURE 17 is a view of the other side of part of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 16.

FIGURE 1 shows a typewriter 20 having a conventional carriage 22 with a platen 24. The platen has an axle 26 with knobs 28 on its opposite ends.

There are guide rolls which hold the paper against the platen in accordance with conventional practice. FIG- URE 1 shows two of these guide rolls 30 on a support 32 extending parallel to the platen 24 and connected at its opposite ends with brackets 34 movable to shift the rolls 30 toward and from the platen in a well-understood manner. The typewriter has the usual controls for releasing roll pressure and for moving the carriage freely in an axial direction and for the other operations usual in a typewriter. While typewriters can be built especially for this invention, it is one of the features of the invention that it can be applied to typewriters of conventional construction.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention is an attachment for connection with a conventional typewriter. This attachment comprises an assembly indicated generally by the reference character 38. The assembly 38 has a top frame 40 which is connected at its opposite ends to the carriage 22 of the typewriter by brackets 42 (FIG- URES 2 and 3). One of the brackets 42 is shown in FIG- URE 3 with a slot 44 which fits over a transverse bar 46 of the carriage frame. There is another slot 48 which receives a screw 50 of the carriage and this screw 50 can be tightened to hold the bracket 42 in place.

A back plate 52 extends down from the top frame 40 and comprises, with the top frame 40, a rigid part of the assembly 38. This back plate 52 need not be secured to the typewriter by any connection other than the horizontal frame 40. The assembly 38 has also a front frame 56 which extends over the horizontal frame 40 and which is connected to the horizontal frame 40 by bolts 58 extending through slots 60 in the horizontal frame 40.

The front frame 56 can be adjusted forward and aft with respect to the horizontal frame 40 when the bolts 58 are loosened. This permits the assembly 38 to be adjusted for the relative position of the platen with respect to the location of the back plate 52 on different makes and models of typewriters; and the parts can be locked in any adjusted position by tightening the bolts 58.

At the forward edge of the front frame 56, there are guides 61, 62, 63 and 64. These guides are separately hinged to the forward edge portion of the front frame 56, each of the guides having separate lugs 66 which form one side of hinge connections between the guide and the front frame 56, as shown in FIGURE 1.

A ribbon 68 extends through a notch 70 at the top of the right-hand end of the upper guide 61; and this ribbon 68 extends downwardly through a slot 72 in the ribbon guide. The slot 72 is set at an angle of 45 so as to provide a guide surface around which the ribbon 68 passes to change its direction of travel to a direction parallel to the axis of the platen 24. A run of the ribbon 68 extends along substantially the entire length of the platen 24, as shown clearly in FIGURE 1, and the ribbon 68 then extends through a slot 72' in the other side of the guide 61. As it passes through the slot 72', the ribbon 68 again changes its direction of travel and passes upwardly through a notch 74 at the upper lefthand end of the guide 61.

Just beyond the notch 74, the ribbon 68 passes over a roller 76 (FIGURE 2) rotatable on an axle 78 supported from the back plate 52. The ribbon 63 passes downward from the roller 76 and around a feed control roller 80 supported on an axle 82 from the back plate 52.

After passing around the feed control roller 80, the ribbon 68 wraps around a take-up spool 86 (FIGURE 4). The relation of the guides 61-64 to one another will be described in connection with other figures of the drawing. For the present it is sumcient to unde'strnd that each of the guides 61-64 (FIGURE 1) guides a different ribbon downwardly from the notch 70 through angular slots corresponding to the slots 72 and 72'; and that there is a run of each of the ribbons, parallel to the axis of the platen 24, immediately behind the ribbon 68 shown in FIGURE 1. All of the ribbons are then guided up through the notch 74 and the ribbons, in superimposed relation to one another, all pass over the roller 76 (FIGURE 2) and downward around the feed control roller 80. All of the ribbons wrap on the same takeup spool 86.

FIGURE 4 also shows the different ribbon spools from which the ribbons are originally supplied. The ribbon 68 comes from a ribbon holder 88 which fits over a hub 90 rotatably suppo'ted on a bearing 92 (FIGURE 11) attached to the back plate 52 by fastenings 94. The hub 90 has a flange 96 at one end and there are teeth 98 around the circumference of the flange 96. A thrust washer 100, attached to the bearing 92 by a screw 102, overlaps the end face of the hub to prevent displacement of the hub to the left in FIGURE 11.

The other ribbons are designated in FIGURE 4 by the reference characters 68a, 63b and 680. These ribbons 68a68c are wrapped on ribbon holders 88a88c, respectively. Ribbon holder 88c is supported as shown in FIGURE 11 and the other ribbon holders 88a and 882) are supported on similar hubs. Parts associated with the ribbon 680 are indicated in FIGURE 11 by the same reference characters as the corresponding parts for the ribbon 68, but with a letter c appended.

The ribbon holder 88 fits snugly over the hub 90 and is prevented from rotating independently of the hub 90 by a pin on stud 103 extending from the hub into a bayonet-type slot 104 (FIGURES 11 and 12) in the ribbon holder 88. The end of the ribbon 68 is attached to the ribbon holder 88 by a piece of adhesive tape 105. The ribbon 68 can be held against unwrapping by inserting a detent 106 (FIGURE between teeth 98 of the flange 96. When the hub 90 is thus prevented from rotating, pull on the ribbon 68 from the take-up spool 86 puts the ribbon 68 under tension.

There is a spider 107 with four resilient arms 108, each of which has a detent 106 at its outer end in position to engage one or another of the circumferentially-toothed flanges 96, 96a, 96b and 960 to prevent unwinding of the ribbons 68, 68a, 68b and 68c, respectively.

The spider 107 is supported on a short axle 110 extending through the back plate 52, as shown in FIGURE 5. The spider 107 has a hub 112 from which the arms 108 extend. A pin 114 extends from the hub 112 through a slot 116 in the back plate 52.

An arm is supported at one end from the pin 114. This arm is supported at its other end by a pin 122 extending from a bell crank 124 which oscillates about a pivot sc ew 126 extending from the back plate 52. There is a helical tension spring 130 connected at one end to a stud 132 projecting from the arm 120. The other end of the spring 130 is connected to a similar stud 134 projecting from the back plate 52.

The spring 130 is under tension and urges the arm 120 to move to the right in FIGURE 5. This urges the hub 112 of the spider 107 to rotate clockwise and similarly urges the bell crank 124 to rock in a clockwise direction. The force of the spring on the spider 107 can not rotate the spider because the detents 106 contact with the teeth of the flanges 96. The arms 108, being of spring material, bend to some extent under the force of the spring 130. Thus the arm can move any one of the detents 106 into engagement between two teeth where the detent registers with the space between the teeth, even though one or more of the other detents may strike against the top of a tooth when the spider makes its initial clockwise movement. As soon as any one of the flanges 96, 96a, 96b and 96c, which does not have a space between teeth engaged by a detent, starts to rotate, the detent will snap into the next space between teeth as a result of the spring force of the arms 108, 1080, 10812 or 1030. Thus no one of the flanges can turn more than half the spacing of the teeth 98 before being locked by the corresponding detent.

When the arm 120 is in its right-hand position, to look all of the ribbons holders against unwinding, the bell crank 124 is at the right-hand end of its stroke and a latch (FIGURE 15) on one end of the bell crank 124 which extends through a slot 141 in the plate 52 to engage one or another of notches 142 in the circumference of a clutch plate 144 supported on a hub 146 (FIGURE 8) of a gear 150 which rotates on an axle 152 extending from the back plate 52.

The clutch plate 144 is held against rotation whenever the latch 140 is engaged with a notch 142 in the clutch plate, as described above, but the gear 150 is always free to rotate, clockwise in FIGURE 4, in response to rotation of a pinion 154 (FIGURE 4) which is in constant mesh with the gear 150. This pinion 154 rotates about an axle 156 (FIGURE 10) and it is driven by a second pinion 158 which meshes with a rack 160 extending across the entire width of the typewriter, as shown clearly in FIG- URES 4 and 5. Although the second pinion 153 rotates whenever the carriage 22 moves, the rotation is transmitted from the second pinion 158 to the first pinion 154 only during the return movement of the carriage, i.e. toward the left in FIGURE 4. This winds the ribbons on the take-up spool 86. One way for obtaining this result will be described in connection with FIGURE 10.

The rack 160 is a part of the attachment of this invention and it is connected to the fixed frame of the typewriter by spring brackets 162. These spring brackets have hooked end portions 164 (FIGURE 2) which snap over parts of the typewriter frame, and a cross bracket 16261 has rearward extensions 165 for supporting the rack 160. Since most typewriter frames are different, the spring brackets 162 are designed for the particular typewriter with which the attachment is intended to be used and the rack 160 is located at the proper elevation to mesh with the second pinion 158 (FIGURE 10) when the other part of the attachment is mounted on the typewriter carriage.

The pinion 158 has a cylindrical flange or sleeve which extends toward the other pinion 154; and the other pinion 154 has a corresponding cylindrical flange or sleeve 172 which is of substantially larger diameter than the sleeve 170 and which extends around the outside of the sleeve 170 with a substantial radial clearance between the sleeves. In this clearance, there is a spring 174 which has a helical portion wrapped around and in contact with the periphery of the sleeve 170. The spring 174 has an end portion 176 which extends into an opening in the outer sleeve 172.

Friction between the spring 174 and the surface of the sleeve 1'70 tends to move the spring 174 with the sleeve 170 as the latter rotates. Since the end portion 176 of the spring is held against rotation with the sleeve 170, when the pinion 154 is stationary, rotation of the sleeve 170 in one direction tends to wind the spring 174 tighter on the sleeve 170, whereas rotation of the sleeve 170 in the opposite direction tends to unwind or loosen the convolutions of the spring 174 on the sleeve 170.

When the pinion 158 turns the sleeve 170 in a direction to tighten the convolutions of the spring 174 on the sleeve 170, the tightening increases the friction and the grip of the spring becomes progressively stronger until the spring 174 rotates with the sleeve 170 and causes the outer sleeve 172 and its connected pinion 154 also to rotate with the gear 150 and in the same direction. Thus the spring 174 provides a selective friction clutch for rotating the pinion 154 when the other pinion 158 rotates in one direction while leaving the pinions free of one another when the pinion 158 rotates in the other direction.

The spring 174 is wrapped in such a direction that the pinion 158 drives the pinion 154 when the pinion 158 is rolling along the rack 160 during each return movement of the carriage; i.e., when the pinion 158 is moving toward the right in FIGURE 5. Unlike most typewriters, the present invention uses a ribbon which does not have to be moved while the carriage is operated one space at a time during the typing of individual letters, but the ribbons are released, in a manner which will be explained later, and the ribbons are advanced for a pre-deterrnined and rather short distance with each return movement of the carriage so as to leave a fresh section of ribbon in position for the typing of the next line by the typewriter. This advancement of the ribbon takes place during only the first part of the return movement of the typewriter, and since the pinion 158 continues to roll along the rack 168 for the entire length of the rack, special provision is made to prevent further feeding or advancement of ribbon during most of the return travel of the carriage. This special provision is best illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9.

The total movement of the ribbon after each line of typing is preferably greater than the width of the widest type face of the typewriter, but less than ten times the width of the widest type face.

FIGURE 8 shows the take-up spool 86 connected to a hub 180 which surrounds the hub 146 of the gear 150; but there is some clearance between the hubs 180 and 146 and there is a helical spring 182 located in this clearance. The spring 182 has an end portion 184 (FIGURE 9) extending into a hole 185 in the ribbon holder hub 180. The Spring 182 has another end portion 184a extending into an opening 185a in the clutch plate 144.

The clutch plate 144 contacts with the gear 150. This gear 150 always turns in the same direction, since it is driven by the pinion 154 (FIGURE 10) and the pinion 154 rotates only when the friction clutch between it and the pinion 158 engages during return movement of the typewriter carriage. The pinion 158 is located in a housing 159 through which the rack 160 extends as shown in FIGURE 2 and 10.

Referring again to FIGURES 8 and 9, the spring 182 is wrapped in such a direction that it is wrapped tightly on the gear hub 146 by movement of the clutch plate 144 with the gear 150. The gripping of the gear hub 146 by the spring 182 causes the spring to rotate with the gear and an end 184 of the spring is engaged in a hole 185 lar to the ribbon holder 88 of FIGURE 12, is secured by a pin 103 extending into a slot 104' in the ribbon holder in the same manner as described in connection with FIG- URES 11 and 12.

Each time the ribbons are permitted to wind on the take-up spool 86, some of the tension in the spring 182 is released; but the invention is constructed so that the gear 150 rotates the clutch plate 144 far enough to restore all of the released tension to the spring 182 and further rotation of the gear 150 causes it merely to slip on the clutch plate 144.

The apparatus for releasing the ribbons so that they can feed after each line of typing, is shown in FIGURES 5 and 15-17. Essentially, the ribbons are advanced by moving the arm 120 to the left in FIGURE 5. This movement releases a detent 106 from between teeth 98 of the flange 96 and releases the other detents of the spider 107 from the corresponding flanges of the holders of the ribbons. The movement of the arm 120 to the left also releases a latch 140 from one of the notches 142 (FIGURE 15) in 6 the periphery of the clutch plate 144 so that the clutch plate can turn with the gear 150 during return movement of the carriage after each line of typing.

The necessary movement of the arm to the left, against the tension of the spring 130, is imparted to the arm 120 by a downwardly-extending arm 187. There is a slide block 188 (FIGURES 15 and 16) in a socket 189 in a lower part of the arm 187. The block 188 extends beyond the lower end of the arm 187 and has a pawl 191 extending from. it in position to engage the teeth of a ratchet 160. A helical compression spring 190 compressed between the upper end of the block 188 and the end of the socket 189 urges the block 188 downward, but the range of movement of the block 188 is limited by a pin 1'92 extending from the block through a slot 194 in the side of the socket 189.

The arm 187 is connected with the arm 120 by a pivot 198 extending through the slot 199 (FIGURE 15); and there is a spring 200 which wraps around the pivot 198 and which urges the arm 187 to swing clockwise in FIG- URES 15 and 16. As the carriage moves to the left in FIGURE 15 the pawl 191 drags across the tops of the teeth of the ratchet 160 until the carriage reaches the left-hand limit of its stroke. This movement of the carriage toward the left in FIGURES 5, 15 and 16 occurs while a line is being typed by the typewriter and while the ribbons remain locked against movement.

When the carriage is moved in the other direction after completing a line of typing, and to bring the carriage into position to start the next line, the carriage is moved toward the right in FIGURES 5, 15 and 16. The first part of this movement causes the arm 187 to move from the position in which it is shown in FIGURE 15 to the position in which this arm 187 is shown in FIGURE 16. This movement results from the engagement of the pawl 191 between teeth of the stationary rack 160 while the carriage on which the other structure, including the pivot 198, is supported, moves to the right. There is a short arm 204 connected to the arm 187 by a pivot 206 and this short arm moves clockwise about the pivot 206 by a spring 208. This spring 208 has one end extending into an anchoring hole 212 in the back of the arm 187. The other end of the spring 208 presses against the arm 204; this end of the spring extending into an opening 214 in the arm 204, the opening being frusto-conical to accommodate limited angular movement of the spring 208.

As the arm 187 swings from its FIGURE 15 position toward its FIGURE 16 position, the short arm 204 advances into contact with a stud 216 and pushes the arm 120 toward the left in FIGURE 15. There is, therefore, a relative movement of the arm 120 toward the left with respect to the other structure of the back plate; actually, a hesitation in the movement of the arm 120 toward the right while the carriage continues its movement toward the right. This swings the bell crank 124 counter-clockwise about the pivot screw 126 to disengage the latch from the notch 142 in which it is engaged. This leaves the clutch plate 144 free to turn. The counter-clockwise movement of the bell crank 124 also releases a detent 218 from a notch 220 (FIGURES 6 and 7) in a flange 222 secured to the front of the feed control roller 80.

The relative movement of the arm 120 to the left also turns the spider 107 counter-clockwise far enough to release the detent 106 (FIGURE 5) from the teeth of the flange 96 and the other detents from the corresponding flanges of the ribbon supply spools, as previously described. The clutch plate 144 (FIGURES 8 and 9) causes the take-up spool 86 to advance all of the ribbons as far as necessary to turn the take-relock control roller 80.

The roller 80 is turned by friction with the advancing ribbons, and the extent of rotation of the roller 80 is closely correlated with the rotation of the clutch plate 144 which also depends upon the amount of advance of the ribbons.

While this ribbon feed is occurring, the free end of the short arm 264 moves in under a stud 226 extending foivvard from a pad 223 on the back plate 52. A cam surface 230 on the short arm 204 moves into contact with the stud 226 and cams the short arm 204 counter clockwise, so that it moves down below the stud 216 and leaves the arm 120 free to be pulled back (toward the right in FIGURE 15) by the spring 130. The detent 218, which is now on the circumference of the flange 222 between notches 220, prevents the arm 120 from moving far enough to the right to relock the ribbons. When the ribbons have advanced far enough to turn the roller 80 and bring the next notch 220 (FIGURES 6 and 7) of the feed control roller 3!) into register with the detent 218 of the bell crank 124, the arm 120 moves all the way back to its original position and relocks the ribbons and the clutch plate 144, leaving the gear to freewheel during the rest of the return movement of the carriage to its original position, ready to start a new line. Thus the notches 220 and the detent that drops into them are cam means rotated by the roller 80 for relocking the ribbon by permitting the latch 14% to reengage a notch 142 in the clutch plate 144.

When new sheets of paper are placed in the typewriter, all of the ribbon guides 61-64 are lifted into a raised position, by swinging them angularly about a pin 231 which is the hinge pin that extends through the lugs 66, but the extending portions of this pin which project over the ribbons 68-680 at both ends of the platen are of greatly reduced diameter to maintain the tightness of the ribbons when the guides are moved up and down. The ribbon guide 61 is shown in such a raised position in FIGURE 13 and it will be understood that the other ribbon guides are similarly raised before putting the new paper in the typewriter. When the new sheets have been advanced far enough to have ribbons placed in front of them, the forward sheets are held away from the platen 24 and the lowermost ribbon guide 64 is allowed to drop into its lowered position in which it holds its ribbon 680 in front of the paper. Then the next-to-last sheet is placed in close to the platen overlying the ribbon 68c and the next ribbon guide 63 is allowed to drop down into its lowered working position so as to locate the next ribbon in front of the next-to-last sheet of paper. In similar manner, all of the ribbons are lowered into position in front of the respective sheets with which they are to be used.

FIGURES 13 and 14 show the apparatus for holding the ribbon guides 61-64 in raised position and for lowering them successively as the sheets of paper are put into position to receive the successive ribbons. There is a latch 240 on the forward end of a bell crank 242 which has a downwardly-extending arm 245 connected to an arm or crank 246 by a spring 248. This spring 248 moves across center to hold the latch 240 in either its upward or downward position to which it has been shifted by the crank 246. The bell crank 242 swings angularly on an axle 250 supported at its opposite ends from a housing 252. This housing 252 is located on top of the front frame 56 and is rigidly connected to the front frame 56.

There are slots 261, 262, 263 and 264 in the ribbon guides 61, 62, 63 and 64, respectively. These slots 261- 264 are in alignment in a direction axial of the platen 24 but they are in staggered relation in a fore-and-aft direction as clearly shown in FIGURE 13.

The latch 24%) has a stem 268 and there are shoulders on the latch on both sides of the stem 268. The latch 240 has a dull pointed end which extends into the slots 261-264 as the ribbon guides 6164 are raised into elevated position; but the maximum width of the latch 240, measured across the shoulders 271 and 272 is substantially equal to the length of the slots 261264. The latch 240, therefore, cannot pass through the slots 261- 264 when the ribbon guides 61-64 are close together because of the staggered relation of the slots 261-264. When all of the ribbon guides are in elevated position, moving the latch 240 downward will move the shoulder 271 beyond the upper edge of the slot 264 and will permit the bottom ribbon guide 64 to drop forward into working position with respect to the platen 24. However, the shoulder 272 will hold the next ribbon guide 63 against dropping down because the end of the slot 263 is higher than that of the slot 264 and is therefore engaged behind the shoulder 272 when the bottom ribbon guide 64 falls free of the latch 240.

The latch 240 can then be raised; that is, rocked clockwise about the pivot 250 so that the shoulder 271 moves upward in front of the ribbon guide 63 beyond the upper end of the slot 262 and as soon as the shoulder 272 is high enough to clear the lower end of the slot 263, the second ribbon guide 63 drops free of the latch 240. In similar manner, the latch 240 can then be moved counter clockwise about the pivot 250 until the lower shoulder 272 engages behind the ribbon guide 61 beyond the lower end of the slot 261 and this downward movement shifts the shoulder 271 beyond the upper end of the slot 262 and permits the ribbon guide 62 to fall free of the latch 240. Raising the latch 2 40 again will release the last and uppermost ribbon guide 61.

The latch 240 is rocked up and down with respect to the pivot 250 by swinging the crank 246 back and forth so that the spring 248 imparts a yielding force for moving the latch 240. The crank 246 is operated by a connecting rod 270 which is pivotally connected to the crank 246 by a pin 272; and which is pivotally connected to a disc 274 by a pin 276. This disc 274 is secured to a shaft 278 which is turned by a knob 280 (FIGURE 1) extending from the housing 252. The operator of the typewriter moves the knob 280 in either direction to rotate the shaft which oscillates the latch 240 for releasing the ribbon guides 6164.

FIGURE 14 shows the opposite side of the latch operating mechanism from that shown in FIGURE 13 and shows the bell crank 242 to be of one-piece construction with the downwardly-extending arm 245 to which the spring 248 is connected. In the preferred construction, the oscillating movement of the bell crank 242 is limited by stops 284 and 286 extending from the top and bottom of the upper arm of the bell crank 242 in position to contact with the front of the housing 252 to limit the angular movement of the bell crank. There is also a pin 290 extending from both sides of the upper arm of the bell crank 242 in position to strike against a slot 292 as a further limit on the oscillating movement of the bell crank 242; but this limitation on the angular movement of the bell crank 242 leaves ample oscillation for release of the ribbon guides, in the manner previously explained.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made, and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A multi-ribbon typewriter device including a plurality of ribbon guides for holding superimposed ribbons in front of a platen of a typewriter, ribbon supply means from which the ribbons advance to corresponding ends of the respective guides, ribbon take-up means to which the ribbons advance from corresponding ends of the respective guides, a lock on the ribbon supply means effective during forward movement of the typewriter carriage in the direction for typing, and lock releasing means operated by the carriage to release the ribbon supply lock during at least a portion of the backward travel of the carriage back into position to start a new line of typing.

2. A multi-ribbon typewriter device described in claim 1 characterized by mechanism operated by forward move- 9 ment of the carirage for tensioning the ribbon take-up 1116211181 3. The multi-ribbon typewriter device described in claim 2 characterized by a lock on the take-up means, and means for releasing said lock on the take-up means.

4. The m'ulti-ribbon typewriter device described in claim 3 characterized by a device for relocking the lock on the take-up means, said device for relocking being responsive to movement of the ribbons.

5. The multi-ribbon typewriter device described in claim 4 characterized by the ribbon supply means including a different 515001 for each ribbon and the ribbon take-up means including a single spool on which all the ribbons wrap, and said device for relocking including a roller that contacts with at least one of the ribbons beyond the ribbon delivery end of the ribbon guides and that is rotated by movement of the ribbon that contacts with said roller.

6. The multi-ribbon typewriter device described in claim 1 characterized by the ribbon take-up means including an element that is rotated by forward movement of the carriage, a one-way clutch operated by said element, a spring drive tensioned by the clutch when the rotating element moves in the direction in which the clutch is effective, the tension being in a direction to Wind the ribbons on the ribbon take-up means, and a friction slip plate between the spring drive and said element to limit the building up of tension as said element continues to rotate.

7. A multi-ribbon typewriter device including a plurality of ribbon guides for holding superimposed ribbons in front of a platen of a typewriter, hinge connections on which each of the ribbon guides swings about an aXis and between a working position and an elevated inoperative position, the inoperative position being one which permits the insertion of new sheets of paper into the typewriter, the axis of the hinge connections of all of the ribbon guides being substantially coincident, latch means that hold the ribbon guides in elevated positions, a rotatable element that moves the latch means with re ciprocating movement, said latch means having guideengaging surfaces on opposite sides thereof'and operating to release a different guide upon each direction of movement of said reciprocating movement, there being slots in the guides for receiving a part of the latch means, the slots being in alignment in the direction of extent of the movement of the carriage of the typewriter, but successive slots being offset for a portion of their length in the direction of movement of the ribbon guides as they move from elevated inoperative position to working position, the latch means including an arm that eX- tends through the slots of all of the ribbon guides when said ribbon guides are in elevated position, the arm having shoulders on opposite sides thereof constituting the guide-engaging surfaces, the distance across the arm including both shoulders being somewhat greater than the overlapping portions of the slots in the direction in which the slots are offset from one another, and the offsets of successive slots being at opposite ends of the slots whereby oscillating movement of the arm releases a successive guide with each oscillating stroke of the arm, a connecting rod, one end of which is operably connected with the arm and the other end of which is connected with said rotatable element by a pivot connection spaced radially from the axis of rotation of the rotating element, the pivot connection being in an unobstructed plane and being movable about repeated complete circular courses whereby the oscillating of the arm is produced by turning of the rotating element in only one direction.

8. The combination with a typewriter having a carriage, of ribbon supply and take-up means carried by the carriage, ribbon feed mechanism including means that advance the typewriter ribbon during return movement of the carriage to position for starting a new line of typing, and locking means for limiting the operation of said mechanism to only a portion of the return movement of the carriage, said locking means including a feed control responsive to the movement of a given length of the ribbon for relocking the locking means to prevent further advance movement of the ribbon, and means for releasing the locking means prior to the next return movement of the carriage.

9. The combination described in claim 8 characterized by the feed control including a roller that has frictional contact with the ribbon and that is rotated by the ribbon, and cam means rotated by the roller for relocking the lock to prevent further advance of the ribbon.

10. The combination with a typewriter having a carriage, of ribbon supply and take-up means carried by the carriage, ribbon feed mechanism including means that advance the typewriter ribbon during return movement of the carriage to position for starting a new line of typing, and locking means for limiting the operation of said mechanism to only a portion of the return movement of the carriage, characterized by a stationary rack on the typewriter with respect to which the carriage moves, a gear on the carriage and in position to roll along the rack as the carriage moves relative to the rack, the ribbon feed mechanism including spring means conditioned by the rotation of the gear to advance the ribbon, the locking means including a lock that prevents advancing of the ribbon by the spring means, and apparatus responsive to movement of the carriage for releasing the locking means during part of a normal operation of the typewriter.

11. A multi-ribbon typewriter device including a plurality of ribbon supply spools, means for guiding the ribbons along the platen, a ribbon take-up drum on which all of the ribbons are collected and wound after passing along the platen, mechanism for rotating the take-up drum including a gear, a hub extending from the gear and integral therewith, a clutch plate rotatable on the hub and in friction contact with a side face of the gear, a helical spring wrapped around the hub, the drum surrounding the hub and spring, one end of the spring being connected with the plate and the other end of the spring being connected with the drum, driving means for rotating the gear and plate in a direction to tighten the Spring about the hub, and a releasable lock for stopping rotation of the clutch plate in unison with the gear whereby continued rotation of the gear loosens the spring around the hub and permits the drum, spring and plate to remain stationary while the gear and hub continue to rotate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,407,935 2/1922 Cossitt 197-1535 X 1,448,334 3/1923 Cossitt 197-1535 X 1,452,193 4/1923 Cossitt 197-1535 X 1,467,532 9/1923 Cossitt 197-1535 X 1,949,107 2/1934 Mosfelt et al 197-153 2,126,323 8/1938 Handley 197-153 2,128,267 8/1938 Sacerdote 197-153 2,139,095 12/1938 PfeiflFer 197-153 2,217,180 10/1940 Noonan 197-153 2,359,502 10/1944 Wyrick 197-153 2,636,590 4/1953 Rice 197-153 2,803,331 8/1957 Berill 197-153 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

ERNEST T. WRIGHT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MULTI-RIBBON TYPEWRITER DEVICE INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF RIBBON GUIDES FOR HOLDING SUPERIMPOSED RIBBONS IN FRONT OF A PLATEN OF A TYPEWRITER, RIBBON SUPPLY MEANS FROM WHICH THE RIBBONS ADVANCE TO CORRESPONDING ENDS OF THE RESPECTIVE GUIDES, RIBBON TAKE-UP MEANS TO WHICH THE RIBBONS ADVANCE FROM CORRESPONDING ENDS OF THE RESPECTIVE GUIDES, A LOCK ON THE RIBBON SUPPLY MEANS EFFECTIVE DURING FORWARD MOVEMENT OF THE TYPEWRITER CARRIAGE IN THE DIRECTION FOR TYPING, AND LOCK RELEASING MEANS OPERATED BY THE CARRIAGE TO RELEASE THE RIBBON SUPPLY LOCK DURING AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE BACKWARD TRAVEL OF THE CARRIAGE BACK INTO POSITION TO START A NEW LINE OF TYPING. 